Garden Gnomes

Red caps. Dented triangular piles of clay.

Dancing. Their hanging tips  revolving.

Circling. Round and round the opening

Daisies.  Their gravity pulling young white

Feathers. Pulling. Pulling. Pulling them out.

Circumcising a sun with brutal grace. Detailing

Nature's god with an elaborate lace collar.

Praising the sacrifice. Holding her prisoner.

Waiting for first light to bring new hope.

For a fresh dew to settle. Wash their feet.

They will stay. They will wait. They are hers.

Clothed in faux leather, beating the ground.

Rhythmic tramping. A voice of earth rising.

Beating. Beating. Broken wood into mud.

Rituals keeping tempos in check. Holding back

Deep black guillotine arms. Even Death laughs.

Bites his tongue. Bides  his time. Deftly Chuckling.

The first snow falls.  Silent. Soft. Slow. Smothering.

 One.

                 Two. One.

                                         Breathe.

Guardians of life. Ever watchful. Standing.

Red caps  tilted to the ground in reverence.

Stone faces. To turn away the night's Silence.

Waiting for her stone to melt away. Green life.

Breaking through. Reaching up. Surviving.

Amazing Pizza Bites

Time to prep/cook: 10 min / 10 min
Ingredients: Biscuits, Spaghetti sauce, Mushrooms, Green Bell Peppers, Sausage/brats, Cheese
Serving Size: 3 (roughly 200 calories for 3)

1. Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees
2. In a small frying pan cook1 sausage/brat that has been cut into slices (I used the lower fat jalepeno chedder chicken sausages) 
3. On a non-stick baking sheet arrange 9 out of 10 biscuits (I used the 50-cent Kroger biscuits)
4. Using your finger, push the center of the biscuits down to create a small bowl shape out of each biscuit
5. Spoon in a teaspoon of spaghetti sauce (I used a garlic and roasted tomato sauce) 
6. Add a piece of diced green pepper and a piece of diced mushroom (The dices should be about the size of your thumbnail)
7. Add a slice of sausage on top top of the veggies
8. Add a small piece of cheese (The size of the vegetable pieces)
9. Cut the 10th biscuit into 9 pieces, and gently stretch each piece and lay over the the top of the biscuit
10. Bake in oven about 15 minutes or until the biscuits are cooked/brown
11. Enjoy!!!

Cheddar Broccoli Thing

**!!**BIG NEWS!!! I HAVE BEEN CHALLENGED TO CREATE HEALTHIER MEALS!! BE READY!**!!**

And to follow that, today's recipe is approximately 350 calories per serving, and really delicious!

Time to prep/cook: 15min/30min

Ingredients: Broccoli, Bow-Tie Noodles, lower fat jalepeno chedder chicken sausages*, 1% milk, salt, black pepper, all-purpose flour, and cheese

**This was an item on sale at Kroger, you can substitute with any sausage you choose, as with the noodles, cheese, and your selection of milk**

1. Preheat oven to 350
2. In a medium sized pot bring about 2-3 cups of water to a boil, add roughly 2 cups of noodles and let cook for 15 min, then drain and keep warm.
3. Meanwhile, cook about 2 cups of chopped broccoli (I used Kroger's frozen chopped broccoli) in the microwave in a covered container - MAKE SURE that a corner is vented!!
4. While the broccoli cooks, dice 2 sausages into 1/2 thick slices (If the sausages are half-way frozen they are easier to cut by the way)
5. Throw the meat into the container of broccoli (if your using the frozen broccoli like me you can do steps 2 and 4 in the bag it comes in as long as only one corner is cut off for venting/pouring) and stir/shake well
6. Cook in the microwave for another 3 minutes, and let sit till the noodles are ready
7. Once the noodles are drained put them back into the pot you already used, add the broccoli and sausage and stir make sure it is evenly mixed. i.e. not all the broccoli is in one spot
8. Once mixed transfer into a 9in round casserole dish
9. In a measuring cup mix 3 tablespoons of all-purpose flour, 1.5 cups of milk, 1 teaspoon of black pepper, and 1/4 teaspoon of salt 
10. Mix until all dissolved
11. Pour mixture over the noodle, broccoli, sausage thing
12. Break 2 slices of American Cheddar prepackaged cheese into 4's, and spread over the top of the dish
13. Bake in oven for 20 min, take out and let stand for 10 min
14. Serve and Enjoy!!!

 Right out of the oven!!

The brown spots are the cheese

Let it stand to allow the liquid mixture to thicken

In a serving dish

O man it smelled sooo good!

NOM!NOM!NOM!NOM! NOM!NOM!

Noodle Soup with Steak

Time to cook: 15 min
Ingredients: Steak, 1 package of Ramen noodles, spinach, mushrooms, sliced almonds, curry powder, and lime juice
**the package of Ramen can be substituted with any noodles, this is just a simple use for a college staple**

1. Add about 2-3 cups of water to pot and bring to a boil (use the amount of water it would normally take to boil Ramen noodles)
2. Add long strip cut steak and a teaspoon of curry powder
3. Stir
4. Simmer until cooked (Took about 2 minutes if that long)
5. Remove the meat with a slotted spoon and place in serving dish
6. Add the Ramen noodles and make sure the stove temperature is at medium
7. Once the noodles have softened, add about 1/2 cup of spinach, a handful of almonds, and quarter cup diced mushrooms
8. Add another teaspoon of curry, and half a package of Ramen seasoning if desired (this will make the beef flavor more prominent, otherwise its a very fresh slight flavoring)
9. Stir
10. Add two or three good squirts of lime juice and stir
11. Serve over the steak
12. Enjoy!!

Noodle Sautee

Time to cook: 40 min
Ingredients: Steak, mushrooms, Italian style green beans, red bell pepper, sliced almonds, spaghetti noodles, steak sauce, soy sauce, and curry powder

1. In a medium sized pot bring water to a boil and then add noodles
2. Meanwhile, heat a medium deep frying pan with about 1/2 a tablespoon of vegetable oil
3. Add in desired amount of diced steak (i went a little steak crazy)
4. As the steak is cooking sprinkle curry powder over the meat
5. Once the meat is browned, add in diced medley of vegetables (I used 1/2 a red bell pepper, 3 large diced mushrooms, about 1/2 cup of Italian style green beans, and about a handful of sliced almonds)
6. As this was cooking I sprinkled a little bit more curry powder and garlic powder to the vegetables
7. Then to give it more moisture I drizzled about 2 tablespoons of Sweet and Spicy Steak sauce, as well as a good couple squirts of lite soy sauce
8. Let the veggies and meat simmer until the noodles are done
9. Once the noodles are cooked and drained, put them in a bowl and serve the veggie medley over the noodles making sure to pour any remaining sauce in the pan over top of the whole concoction
10. Serve and Enjoy!

Asparagus Heaven Rolls

Time to prep&cook: 45 min
Ingredients: Asparagus, Can of biscuits/crescents, Cream Cheese, Thin Sliced Deli Meat, Garlic, Cayenne Pepper, and Lime Juice

***THESE TASTED PHENOMENAL!! ***

1. Flash steam asparagus
• In a pot of bowling water place a steamer (Its a metal bowl that looks like a spaceship)
• Steam the asparagus for about 3-5 min, till the asparagus is soft enough that it bends
2. Take a biscuit/crescent and stretch long ways about the length of your hand (from tip of middle finger to the middle of wrist
3. Spread a small amount of cream cheese (I used the fat free cream cheese) across the length of the stretched biscuit
4. Sprinkle garlic and cayenne pepper across the layer of cream cheese
5. Take a thin sliced piece of deli meat, and cut into three pieces, layer on top of the cream cheese
6. Wrap this biscuit mix around a small group of asparagus (I used three)
• Side note, for an easier eating experience cut the asparagus into three pieces and cut each biscuit into 3 pieces and wrap each piece otherwise the first bite pulls the asparagus right out of the biscuit
7. Bake in oven for 10-15 min or until golden brown (I left mine in for 15 min just a touch too long, but they were still o so good!!)
8. Enjoy!!

Ring Around the Eggs

Time to cook: 30 min
Ingredients: Eggs, Bell Peppers, Potato, Mushrooms, Cheese, "New Orleans Cajun Spice", vegetable oil

**This dinner was based off an idea I saw elsewhere, and did not look as beautiful but was very delicious!!**

1. Rinse a medium to large sized bell pepper, and core out the seeds
2. Slice through the middle to create two 1/2 inch wide rings 
3. Heat a frying pan on med. with about 1 tbsp 
4. Place the pepper rings in center let the oil start to cook the peppers for a little bit (about 2 min)
5. Crack an egg and pour egg into pepper (I held the pepper down with one hand to prevent egg leaking under the pepper)
6. Let the egg cook and spice with the "New Orleans Cajun Spice"
7. Once the white starts to show on the bottom, add very finely chopped mushrooms to coat the top of the egg
8. Once the egg cooks enough that you can flip, slide a spatula under the pepper and egg and very carefully flip over
9. Let the egg cook
10. Serve on a plate, and add small piece of cheese (I used half a slice of pre-sliced american cheese)
11. Enjoy!!!

*I served this with fried diced potatoes, diced mushrooms, and diced bell peppers